• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.273-301
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• 2008

This study aims not only to examine the globalization, imformationization, and networking as background of knowledge-information-based society, but also to clarify the research fields of 'geography of knowledge' and further research themes for economic geography in a knowledge-information-based society. As a result of globalization, the degree of regional disparity, which had decreased with neoliberal policy in Europe and America in 1980's, has increased in early development states such as China and Eastern European countries. In opposition to the globalization that has led to increasing regional disparities at a global scale, many scholars argue that grassroots globalization or globalization from below is needed. Based on a pessimistic view on globalization, many maintain that unequal access to information has enlarged the gap between rich and poor. They also argue that the study of the geography of poverty is crucial in oder to solve the problem of bipolization. According to the world system theory, spatial grasp of commodity chains, actors' diversities, flows towards innovation in learning knowledges, and geographical, organizational, and institutional proximities are intertwined. Because these elements make significant influences each other in social networks, the interrelationships among those elements should be carefully considered. A 'geography of knowledge' deals with manufacturing, finance and service, media, cultural, and creative industries. Former researches in economic geography have tended to deal with those industries separately without attempting to make meaningful linkages among discussions on those industries.